That was quick – Canada looks to extend euthanasia eligibility

The Canadian government has announced that it will conduct reviews for the extension of the euthanasia and assisted suicide law introduced earlier this year, including:

requests by mature minors

advance requests

requests where mental illness is the sole underlying medical condition.

The real agenda of the reviews can be understood by the quote attributed to the Health Minister:

Passing the medical assistance in dying legislation in June was crucial for supporting improvements to a full range of options for end-of-life care, including the choice of a medically assisted death for eligible Canadians. The reviews that we have launched today will help us to better understand three complex issues not addressed in the legislation.

That is, in Ms Philpott’s view, introducing euthanasia was “crucial” to improve palliative care! And now euthanasia will be “crucial” to improve paediatrics and mental health care.

More than that, the announcement of the reviews is an admission that the new law was rushed in without properly considering all the issues, and without knowing where it would lead.